Who are the meek?

But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the Lord. – Zephaniah 3:12

Quite often in the Old Testament, God would allow things to happen to the Israelites.  These things would often mean destruction and even near devastation for them as a people.  But God always kept a remnant, a small piece, safe to reestablish the nation.  In Zephaniah God is telling what this remnant is supposed to look like: meek and humble.

I think the key to correctly understanding this term is to look at what immediately follows – who trust in the name of the Lord.  Many people confuse what this idea of meek is all about.  It’s assumed that for some reason or another it’s equivalent to weakness but we couldn’t be more wrong.  The word meek has been explained like looking at an animal in the circus – it’s still capable of killing the same way it was in the wilderness but it’s been trained to live differently.  It still possesses all of the strength that it had in the wild but it knows how to control it.  

If this is what we are to be like, then we might say that meek is strength under control.  If we are super strong and out of control, we’ll most likely do lots of damage.  So Jesus tells us that a true disciple is strong in the Lord but knows how to keep that strength in check.  Jesus is the greatest example of meekness – he could have flexed his God muscle many times but chose to leave it be.  From the flogging at his crucifixion to the temptations in the wilderness, Jesus could have demonstrated his power and annihilated the earth but he didn’t.  He demonstrated meekness – strength under control. 

Meek…probably not what you originally were thinking. 

Lord help me to be more meek today.  Give me your power and the wisdom to know when and how to use it.  Amen.